Emergency control actuator



June 1954 o. H. HASSELBAUM EMERGENCY CONTROL ACTUATOR FIG 1 [0 Filed April 2, 1952 FIG. 5

Patented June 1, 1954 2,680,165 EMERGENCY CONTROL ACTUATOR Oscar H. Hasselbaum,- Arlington, Mass., assignor to Joseph Pollak Corporation, Dorchester,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 2, 1952, Serial No. 280,092-

'7 Claims.

The present invention relates to an emergency control device for operating a plurality of switches simultaneously in the imminence of a crash or other sudden occurring event wherein safety demands that action be immediately taken to turn off the sources which might cause fire or explosions.

The device of the present invention is used more particularly in the operation of air crafts for simultaneously turning off a number of master switches to shut off the engine, motors and power sources and other operating devices.

The device of the present invention will be installed on a panel switch-board for operating a plurality of switches from on to oif positions.

A feature of the present invention is that the actuator device cannot be accidentally operatedin either direction and therefore it is impossible to turn oif the switches accidentally as when somebody may come against the actuator. Positive and intentional operation is required for the actuator of the present invention.

A further feature of the present invention is that it is simple in construction, that it will withstand considerable abuse, that it has certain flexible parts which will not allow the device to become jammed in any way and that it requires for operation a simple coordinated movement which can be accomplished extremely rapidly.

Without further describing the merits and advantages of the present invention, the invention will be described drawings illustrating an in which:

Figure 1 shows an elevation of the invention as applied to a plurality of similar switches mounted on the panel board.

Figure 2 shows a plan View looking upward from the bottom of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 shows an end view looking from the right of Figure 2.

Figure 4 shows a 4-4 of Figure 1, and,

Figure 5 shows an end view of Figure 1 with the switches mounted on the switch panel and the actuator positioned in relation to them.

In the arrangement indicated in the drawings, the switch panel I has a plurality of switch housings 2, 2, etc., mounted therein each of which has an operating switch arm 3 projecting forward from the switches which have pins or arms 4 positioned to engage the actuator arms 5, 5, 5, 5, under conditions which will presently be described.

embodiment of the same,

section taken on the line The switch arms 3 are shown: as pivoted armsin connection with the pivoted in the switch housing with the pins or arms 4 extending from the rear of the switch elements for engaging the actuators 5 which are in a plane spaced 2. short distance, perhaps 4" from the front plate or cover t of the switch housing. The actuator system of the present invention will operate not only for a plurality of pivoted switch arms, but will also operate for switch arms which may move in laterally or nonarcuate movement, and in fact the actuator may be applied to a combination of different operating types of switches as will readily be seen from the description below.

The actuator of the present invention comprises a housing 8, which as indicated in Figure 4 has an inverted U-shaped shell 9 with a downwardly extending flange ID (see Figures 1 and 4) and a cover plate 7 covering the open end of the U-shaped section with an extending flange ll facing the flange It. The end cap 12 covers the end of the U-shaped shell. This cap has a flange 1-3 which is faced over the cover plate 1 and riveted to it by rivet [4 thus closing the end of the shell or housing. The U-shaped housing extends over the whole length of the device and is slotted at spaced intervals at the top by slots l5, l5, etc., to permit the actuator arms 5 to extend through the housing. Within the housing the actuator arms are supported by short rods or shafts l6 which have a sliding flt within the housing from which the arms 5 extend laterally or what might be considered radially from the shaft. These shafts [6 are internally bored and threaded to receive a flexible screw cable 17, which extends through all of the shafts from the one at the end to which the actuator arm is attached to the one at the terminates in an end cavity. Atthe other end of the shaft IS, the bore or cavity l'l contains the end of a coiled spring IS, the other end of which abuts against the end plate 42. 16 may be properly positioned along slots l5 at the desired places. All of the arms 5 extending from the housing 8 are operated simultaneously. This is accomplished through the single arm or bar l9 extending from one of the shafts l6, outwardly through a slot in the lower side of the housing 8. This bar I9 has an end 253 (see Figure 2), which projects into the base of a slidable plate 2| mounted on a flange plate 22 which is riveted or shown in Figure 1 by nuts and bolts 23 whichpass through the flange Ill and also the individual switch plates and panel boards. The slid ing plate 2| is constructed with arms 24 and 25 end in which it The shaft clamped over the plate I!) as extending lengthwise on either side of an operating handle 2%. These arms 24 and 25 are provided with bolt and nut elements 2'5 and 28 respectively, the bolts of which pass through slots 29 and 30 respectively, which limit the sliding motion of the plate. In juxtaposition to the handle 26 is a trigger handle 3! which is pivoted at 32 in an ear 33 of the supporting plate H. The trigger handle M is formed as a lever with a forked end 34 beyond the pivot 32, which forked end surrounds the head 35 of a stud 36. The stud 36 works up and down in a cup 31 formed in the plate 2!. In this cup there is positioned a coil spring 33 which surrounds the stud 35 and which is compressed by a pin or plate 39 attached near the lower end of the stud 35 so that when the trigger is moved towards the handle 25, the stud or pin 38 will be raised to compress the spring and the end of the stud 35 will thereby be moved out of the hole lil in the supporting flange or base 22. When the pin 36 is raised in this fashion the handle 26 as viewed in Figure 2 may be moved to the right for the length of the slots 29 and at. This motion will simultaneously move all the arms. 5 and restore all the switch arms 3 to their inoperative positions. At the same time that this takes place, the spring ill in the housing 8 will be compressed and when the arm 26 is released all the actuator arms, the shaft is and the arm 26 will be returned to the left to their initial position and the pin or stud 36 will reset itself in the hole M). This action turns off all the switches simultaneously in definite and positive motion. In event that anything has happened to disalign the housing or shell, the actuator may still be operated. The motion required for operation is simply that of squeezing the trigger and handle 26 together and moving the handle to the right as viewed in Figures 1 and 2.

In the construction as shown in Figure 5, the actuator assembly is mounted with the same mounting nut and bolt assembly 23 as that used for mounting the individual switches on the panels so that the proper positioning of the actuator arm is assured for the assembly by the location and mounting holes of the actuator arm assembly in the panel board.

Having now described my invention, 1 claim:

1. An actuator for a plurality of switches, each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of actuator arms positioned each in proximity to one of said switch handles, a manual actuator member connected to said actuator arms, means mounting said member for permitting it to be moved in one direction to actuate said switch handles, a locking member having a manual operating means positioned adjacent said manual actuator member for restraining the operation of said manual actuator member and operative with the latter in the opposite direction from the operation of the manual actuator means.

2. An actuator for a plurality of switches, each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of actuator arms positioned each in proximity to one of said switch handles, a manual actuator member connected to said actuator arms, means mounting said member for permitting it to be moved in one direction to actuate said switch handles, and means operative towards said member for releasing said first means for the initial opera tion thereof.

3. An actuator for a plurality of switches, each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of actuator arms positioned each in proximity to one of said switch handles, a manual actuator member connected to said actuator arms, means mounting said member for permitting it to be moved in one direction to actuate said switch handles, and means operative towards said member for releasing said first means for operation thereof, including a trigger grip adapted to be squeezed towards said member for releasing said first means for the operation thereof.

4. An actuator for a plurality of switches each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of shaft elements each having an actuator arm extending from the side thereof positioned in proximity to one of said switches, a flexible cable member joining in alignment all of said shaft elements whereby they all move longitudinally one with the other, a shell acting as a sleeve for said shaft elements and said cable, a spring within said shell adapted to be compressed by said longitudinal movement, means for manually moving said actuators in the direction to compress said spring and means adapted to be released for permitting said manual movement.

5. An actuator for a plurality of switches each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of shaft elements each having an actuator arm extending from the side thereof positioned in proximity to one of said switches, a flexible cable member joining in alignment all of said shaft elements whereby they all move longitudinally one with the other, a shell acting as a sleeve for said shaft elements and said cable, spring means acting at one end of said shaft elements and adapted to be energized by the movement of said shaft elements in one direction, means for manually moving said actuators in said direction and means adapted to be released for permitting said manual movement.

6. An actuator for a plurality of switches each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of shaft elements each having an actuator arm extending from the side thereof positioned in proximity to one of said switches, a flexible cable member joining in alignment all of said shaft elements whereby they all move longitudinally one with the other, a shell acting as a sleeve for said shaft elements and said cable, one of said shaft elements having an operating arm projecting outwardly from said shaft at a different angle from its actuating arm, an operating handle mounted in a free support connected to said operating arm, a latch mechanism normally retaining the operating handle in a fixed position having an operating trigger adjacent said handle for releasing the operating handle whereby the trigger may be squeezed in the same motion with the movement of the operating handle for actuating said actuator arms.

7. An actuator for a plurality of switches each having independent switch handles operated by said actuator comprising a plurality of shaft elements each having an actuator arm extending from the side thereof positioned in proximity to one of said switches, a flexible cable member joining in alignment all of said shaft elements whereby they all move longitudinally one with the other, a shell acting as a sleeve for said shaft elements and said cable, one of said shaft elements having an operating arm projecting outwardly from said shaft at a different angle from its actuating arm, an operating handle mounted in a sliding bearing parallel to said shafts and. flexible cable members, a trigger latch positioned adjacent said handle normally maintaining said handle immovable and released upon pressing for motion of the operating handle in the opposite direction from that of pressing the trigger.

6 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

